We will never make it out of the woods until we stop gambling

[speedtoburn]

Let me explain...

 

Right now our program is completely lost in a deep dark forest and has been for the lat 15 years.

 

For reasons that are absolutely mind-boggling and have spanned MULTIPLE athletic administrations, our solution to get out of this forest has been to basically "Experiment".

 

- In 2004, we gambled by hiring a known NFL commodity with no collegiate head coaching experience.

 

- In 2007, we gambled by hiring an up and coming Coordinator with no collegiate head coaching experience.

 

- In 2014, we gambled by hiring a college head coach with a collegiate career winning percentage of .563....that's right, .563. In essence, this individual won slightly more than half of all his games.

 

 

In each instance, the fan-base was sold narratives of varying "color". With this last hire being perhaps the most preposterous and grandiose of them all,,,that despite all evidence to the contrary, a coach with a very pedestrian pedigree was going to come to Lincoln and right the ship. Statistical evidence be damned! This individual will come here, get access to such amazing facilities and talent, that it will Trump everything else!

 

Until this program is ready to stop experimenting, get serious, open up the checkbook and let the college coaching community know that they are willing to pay whatever it takes (5 Million plus) to get an instant game-changing candidate as others have done, we will continue to aimlessly wander in the dark forest we currently find ourselves in.

[In the Deed the Glory]

I just find it hard to believe that the job wasn't offered to the type of person where you "open the checkbook" for them. Common sense says you at least offer to them, right?

 

I find it hard to swallow that nobody wanted our money, but I wonder if that wasn't the case.

[Landlord]

"The way we'll be good at something that has no guaranteed outcome is to make decisions with a guaranteed outcome." Yeah, okay.

 

 

Michigan State gambled on Mark Dantonio

Oklahoma gambled on Bob Stoops

Clemson gambled on Dabo Swinney

Oregon gambled on Chip Kelly

 

 

 

You actually have a real point to be made in the sense that our athletic department has seemed to believe they can hot rod out of spare parts, but 'gambling' has nothing to do with. Meyer at OSU, Harbaugh at Michigan, Saban at Bama - those kinds of situations are beyond rare. Everyone else has to go for the best chance they can, and none of those are a guarantee of anything. For every 'automatic' hire that succeeds, there's another that falls on his ass, and for every unproven commodity that fails, there's another that thrives.

[Magnus]

NU will continue to "gamble" when it comes to any new coaching hire. There is no anchor to the Devaney/Osborne era, the AD and fan base have driven them all off.

[speedtoburn]

I just find it hard to believe that the job wasn't offered to the type of person where you "open the checkbook" for them. Common sense says you at least offer to them, right?

 

I find it hard to swallow that nobody wanted our money, but I wonder if that wasn't the case.

 

I suppose we'll never know since coaching searches are typically conducted in complete secrecy.

 

But I've never gotten the sense in any anecdotal capacity, that Nebraska is a school really willing to step up and fork out top shelf money. Quite the contrary, during Osborne's tenure, he has been on record using verbiage which very clearly implied that he did not believe in the ethos of extremely high paid college football coaches and I believe this thought process has permeated multiple administrations now.

 

The picture that was painted regarding the Riley hire is that Eichorst for all intents and purposes never even really seriously considered anyone other than Riley. If true, it would represent a level of ineptitude that was truly mind-boggling.

 

But this experimental hiring pattern which now spans 15 years is disturbing.

 

I hope that Mike Riley succeeds, I don't want to see him fail, but if he doesn't at what point will someone break this pattern?

[Landlord]

Honest question - who could we have gotten. Say we have an AD who is ready to open up the checkbook as wide as can be - who was available that would have come?

[speedtoburn]

"The way we'll be good at something that has no guaranteed outcome is to make decisions with a guaranteed outcome." Yeah, okay.

 

 

Michigan State gambled on Mark Dantonio

Oklahoma gambled on Bob Stoops

Clemson gambled on Dabo Swinney

Oregon gambled on Chip Kelly

 

 

 

You actually have a real point to be made in the sense that our athletic department has seemed to believe they can hot rod out of spare parts, but 'gambling' has nothing to do with. Meyer at OSU, Harbaugh at Michigan, Saban at Bama - those kinds of situations are beyond rare. Everyone else has to go for the best chance they can, and none of those are a guarantee of anything. For every 'automatic' hire that succeeds, there's another that falls on his ass, and for every unproven commodity that fails, there's another that thrives.

 

Fair point, not going to argue. I understand your position.

 

Just a yes/no question:

 

Statistically/generally speaking, in your opinion, if you were presented with two coaching candidates... with candidate "A" having demonstrated inarguable success (lets say +.750 in percentage) at his previous school/s and candidate "B" having no record as a head coach to judge and/or a career .500 record, would it stand to reason that candidate B, gives you a better chance at being successful? Forget about any other considerations...I'm talking about this specific vacuum....does B give you a better chance to win than A? Yes or no?

[Kernal]

Let me explain...

 

Right now our program is completely lost in a deep dark forest and has been for the lat 15 years.

 

For reasons that are absolutely mind-boggling and have spanned MULTIPLE athletic administrations, our solution to get out of this forest has been to basically "Experiment".

 

- In 2004, we gambled by hiring a known NFL commodity with no collegiate head coaching experience.

 

- In 2007, we gambled by hiring an up and coming Coordinator with no collegiate head coaching experience.

 

- In 2014, we gambled by hiring a college head coach with a collegiate career winning percentage of .563....that's right, .563. In essence, this individual won slightly more than half of all his games.

 

 

In each instance, the fan-base was sold narratives of varying "color". With this last hire being perhaps the most preposterous and grandiose of them all,,,that despite all evidence to the contrary, a coach with a very pedestrian pedigree was going to come to Lincoln and right the ship. Statistical evidence be damned! This individual will come here, get access to such amazing facilities and talent, that it will Trump everything else!

 

Until this program is ready to stop experimenting, get serious, open up the checkbook and let the college coaching community know that they are willing to pay whatever it takes (5 Million plus) to get an instant game-changing candidate as others have done, we will continue to aimlessly wander in the dark forest we currently find ourselves in.

 

Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are not coming to Lincoln for any price. Michigan had to pay Harbaugh close to $10 million to go back to his alma mater. Outside of two or three coaches, there is no such thing as a coaching hire that is not a gamble. Coaches who can go anywhere and be successful are the exception, not the rule.

[speedtoburn]

Honest question - who could we have gotten. Say we have an AD who is ready to open up the checkbook as wide as can be - who was available that would have come?

 

I would love to know the answer to this question, but doubt we'll ever know.

 

Also, what constitutes "available"?

[Magnus]

Honest question - who could we have gotten. Say we have an AD who is ready to open up the checkbook as wide as can be - who was available that would have come?

 

You have to approach it from Eichorst's perspective -- the only streak for which he has direct responsibility is the sellout streak.

 

In that case, Mike Riley really was the best option for Eichorst.

 

Some fans felt alienated by Pelini, so Eichorst hired Mr. Nice Guy to soothe the egos of the "greatest fans in college football" and the local media.

[alwayshusking]

Sure thing coaches are few and far between. Anybody we are going to hire is going to be a "gamble".

[speedtoburn]

 

Let me explain...

 

Right now our program is completely lost in a deep dark forest and has been for the lat 15 years.

 

For reasons that are absolutely mind-boggling and have spanned MULTIPLE athletic administrations, our solution to get out of this forest has been to basically "Experiment".

 

- In 2004, we gambled by hiring a known NFL commodity with no collegiate head coaching experience.

 

- In 2007, we gambled by hiring an up and coming Coordinator with no collegiate head coaching experience.

 

- In 2014, we gambled by hiring a college head coach with a collegiate career winning percentage of .563....that's right, .563. In essence, this individual won slightly more than half of all his games.

 

 

In each instance, the fan-base was sold narratives of varying "color". With this last hire being perhaps the most preposterous and grandiose of them all,,,that despite all evidence to the contrary, a coach with a very pedestrian pedigree was going to come to Lincoln and right the ship. Statistical evidence be damned! This individual will come here, get access to such amazing facilities and talent, that it will Trump everything else!

 

Until this program is ready to stop experimenting, get serious, open up the checkbook and let the college coaching community know that they are willing to pay whatever it takes (5 Million plus) to get an instant game-changing candidate as others have done, we will continue to aimlessly wander in the dark forest we currently find ourselves in.

 

Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are not coming to Lincoln for any price. Michigan had to pay Harbaugh close to $10 million to go back to his alma mater. Outside of two or three coaches, there is no such thing as a coaching hire that is not a gamble. Coaches who can go anywhere and be successful are the exception, not the rule.

 

Now you're talking degrees of calculated risk.

 

I think that all three hires represent the high end of such a scale; additionally, I don't believe that we couldn't have gotten much better candidates.

[Xmas32]

 

Honest question - who could we have gotten. Say we have an AD who is ready to open up the checkbook as wide as can be - who was available that would have come?

 

I would love to know the answer to this question, but doubt we'll ever know.

 

Also, what constitutes "available"?

 

 

Get asked a direct question that pertains to your thread, have no idea on the answer. Dynamite thread guy.

[speedtoburn]

I should substitute "gambling" with "experimenting".

[lo country]

 

Let me explain...

 

Right now our program is completely lost in a deep dark forest and has been for the lat 15 years.

 

For reasons that are absolutely mind-boggling and have spanned MULTIPLE athletic administrations, our solution to get out of this forest has been to basically "Experiment".

 

- In 2004, we gambled by hiring a known NFL commodity with no collegiate head coaching experience.

 

- In 2007, we gambled by hiring an up and coming Coordinator with no collegiate head coaching experience.

 

- In 2014, we gambled by hiring a college head coach with a collegiate career winning percentage of .563....that's right, .563. In essence, this individual won slightly more than half of all his games.

 

 

In each instance, the fan-base was sold narratives of varying "color". With this last hire being perhaps the most preposterous and grandiose of them all,,,that despite all evidence to the contrary, a coach with a very pedestrian pedigree was going to come to Lincoln and right the ship. Statistical evidence be damned! This individual will come here, get access to such amazing facilities and talent, that it will Trump everything else!

 

Until this program is ready to stop experimenting, get serious, open up the checkbook and let the college coaching community know that they are willing to pay whatever it takes (5 Million plus) to get an instant game-changing candidate as others have done, we will continue to aimlessly wander in the dark forest we currently find ourselves in.

 

Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are not coming to Lincoln for any price. Michigan had to pay Harbaugh close to $10 million to go back to his alma mater. Outside of two or three coaches, there is no such thing as a coaching hire that is not a gamble. Coaches who can go anywhere and be successful are the exception, not the rule.

Folks on this very board said Peterson would never leave Boise....

 

If Houston doesn't go to the Big 12, I'd take a hard look at Herman. If Riley is let go or his contract is up. Guys like Saban and Meyer are mercenaries and ego driven. You don't think fir the right money Saban wouldn't jump at the chance to fo something no other coach save TO has done at NU, He could come in here, win, and be considered the greatest to ever coach.....

 

Like field of dreams.....if you pay, they will come......